Fred Beckey is a bridge to the roots of the American climbing scene. This diversity also contributed to even more first ascents. That year Beckey did 33 first ascents, a personal record. We were planning another trip to the Himalayas for next spring. From a camp 3,000 feet lower, Dyhrenfurth watched through binoculars with growing alarm as Beckey left the incapacitated Swiss in a badly battered tent, without so much as a sleeping bag, and continued down with the sherpas through the ongoing storm. We had traversed overland on foot and by horseback, and hitched rides in impressively deft vehicles, held together by rust, twine, and salvaged wire. We hadnt scoped a descent, but hadnt spent much time scoping the route either. We had a blast. This confidence would allow Fred and Helmy (who were still teenagers at the time) to take on their most daunting challenge in 1942. WebBeckey, like so many people of great accomplishment, is a controversial figure, having alienated fellow climbers by stealing their routes (and even their girlfriends). No one would maltreat an elder on remote mountain treks, in latitudes where age earned reverence, and particularly not in nations where ancestors were worshiped. Here are the details: We are asking for your written contributions for a "Tribute Book" : a collaborative gift from anyone who has known Fred, climbed with Fred, or experienced mountain-life or trail life with Fred . Fred Beckey ascends Sail Away, a route on Hidden Tower, a rock pinnacle in Southern California's Joshua Tree National Park, on New Year's Day. Fred Beckey all but invented the sport of climbing with daring first ascents of peaks once thought unclimbable. We figured out how to fend for ourselves when logistics failed, and nature overwhelmed us. Our families, work, and other commitments return to center stage once weve had our fix. I first ran into Fred Beckey at the Banff Book and Film Festival in 1994, where he tried stealing my girlfriend (something he was known for). Lighter-toned lichen might blur with cleaned off footholds or quartz bumps. He was there when it all started. The ascent generated two sentences of minuscule type in Sports Illustrated that September, buried on a back page, where a postage-stamp-size picture of Beckey ran in the Faces in the Crowd column beneath a picture of a nurse from Brooklyn whod landed a 94-pound tuna. Later that year, Beckey, with Clint Kelley and Lloyd Anderson (the founder of REI), made the first ascent of Mount Despair in the Cascades. I gained a lot of confidence on that trip.. His first, a guide to the local peaks, was rejected for publication by the Mountaineers of Seattle. Fred has many aspects in his character. Or, in other words, someone who always finds a way to put rock climbing first often without any need or desire for recognition. Thought I brought a bottle of Nuprin. He quietly introduced himself as Pedro, and asked in a Spanish accent if that was THE Fred Beckey. Whatever misunderstandings and misgivings this situation created, they would follow Beckey. All rights reserved. Its crammed full of notes about unclimbed peaks, big north faces that were overlooked by the mapmakers, last great problems in out-of-the-way corners of obscure ranges, that sort of thing. The pair traveled to Zion national park, where they attempted to climb Touchstone Wall and Prodigal Son. WebMegan Bond, Beckeys dear friend and biographer, explained to me that Beckey detested the word, equating it with bum. Of this expedition, Fred would later tell Chris Jones of Mountain magazine: That trip Helmy and I made into the Pickets in 1940 was one of roughest. And the tab for Beckeys formidable obsession might finally be coming due, at the age of 69. Beckey named Vasiliki Ridge, by Washington Pass, after his one true love. Fred Beckey ascends Sail Away, a route on Hidden Tower, a rock pinnacle in Southern California's Joshua Tree National Park, on New Year's Day. He would drink cold coffee as he plotted lines and routes from point A to point B to point C, and I would use my primitive Tibetan language skills to find meaning in various place-names he occasionally asked me about. Your email address will not be published. This article originally appeared in our Spring 2021 issue ofMountaineerMagazine. Mountaineers Books is a registered trademark of The Mountaineers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. SEATTLE (AP) Legendary mountain climber Fred Beckey, who wrote dozens of books and is credited with notching more first ascents than any other American mountaineer, has died. They went away empty-handed. But time had begun to catch up with Fred. If you want to go far, go with a friend.. But he was passed over. The unclimbed northeast buttress of Slesse jutted menacingly out of the Chilliwack Range 20 miles south of Hope, British Columbia. His volume The Mountains of North America and Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America is still popular today. Why did he embrace such a life. But Fred Beckey was undoubtedly Americas (and arguably the worlds) greatest first ascensionist, scoring firsts on some of the continents tallest peaks. Fred beckey is the legendary american dirtbag mountaineer whose name is spoken in hushed tones around campfires. The 1963 American Everest expedition was justly hailed as a whopping success, a triumph of national pride on the order of sending a man into space. Fred Beckey at Shiprock in 2016. His contribution to the American Alpine Journal was also immense, creating over 20 feature articles and hundreds of commentary pieces. You can tell what really bothers Fred because thats the stuff he never mentions, says Sybil Goman, who has gotten as close to Beckey as perhaps a person can. And it confirmed that they could tough it out. We shared nearly every day of every year, either in the wilds or the city, and occasionally by phone if one of us was away, but we remained connected to one another in either world. I later told Pedro wed done the route and finished up in the dark. Over the ensuing summers, he pioneered routes up dozens more Cascadian peaks, sometimes with his brother Helmy in tow. The most serious blot on Beckeys good name occurred in the autumn of 1955, when he traveled to Nepal to attempt Lhotseat the time the highest unclimbed mountain on earth. How could we know that these would be the last few months of his life? There was the airline stewardess, the topless showgirl, the real estate agent, the geologist, the trapeze artist from Tarzana . We drove through the night, Bjornstad remembers. To quote Dougald MacDonald, editor of the American Alpine Journal: No climber in the 88-year history of the AAJ has written more reports or had more climbs cited in these pages than Fred Beckey.. He had taught himself to lip read and observed body language carefully to help him interpret peoples sentences. Fred,my dad, and some mutual friends went climbing in China together when my mom was pregnant with me. When back in their Seattle home, Freds parents decided to enroll him in the local chapter of the boy scouts to better channel his energy. Nowadays, of course, every crag from Smith Rock to the New River Gorge is crawling with pierced-eared rock rats whove copped an attitude, hit the road, and are living in tents in the dirt. Maybe I forgot it, I dont know. Bjornstad concurs, adding that Fred never mentioned his feelings about being excluded from the Everest trip, simply wouldnt talk about it, but it [4] His brother, Helmut "Helmy" Beckey, was born in Seattle in 1926 and would later become Fred's frequent climbing partner. In 1955, he was invited to take part in an international effort to summit Lhotse, the fourth-highest peak in the Himalayas. By this definition, Fred Beckey was a true dirtbag and maybe even the original dirtbag. [1][2] Among the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, seven were established by Beckey, often climbing with some of the best known climbers of each generation. That was Freds style. A month after this forgettable blurb appeared, tens of millions of Americans saw a Seattle neighbor of Beckeys, Jim Whittaker, featured on the cover of National Geographic as the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 1942 he joined 10th Mountain Division, based in Colorado, and served as an instructor. And it certainly seemed to work. WebMegan Bond, Beckeys dear friend and biographer, explained to me that Beckey detested the word, equating it with bum. This achievement lit a fire under Fred and his contemporaries, causing them to top out thirty-five of the regions tallest peaks in that season. . Some say it was 1946, when he pushed Alaskan mountaineering to a bold new plane by making the first ascent of an immense stone digit called the Devils Thumb. Fred Beckey all but invented the sport of climbing with daring first ascents of peaks once thought unclimbable. There were no more large, international trips for Beckey. Beckey was a contemporary of Hugh Hefners, and he took the Playboy Philosophy as the gospel. For most of his life, and well into his middle age, Fred had been a torpedo, outdistancing climbers half his age who struggled to keep up with him. The night before their summit attempt, Freds partner Bruno Sprig developed cerebral edema at twenty-three thousand feet. Our bivouacs spawned by misadventure or necessity became less frequent, but the sleeping bags were still put to good use as we camped out and star gazed. More notable ascents followed in Alaska, British Columbia, and the Pacific Northwest on peaks like Mount Hunter via the West Ridge, Mount Deborah, and Mount McKinley. Your email address will not be published. What makes your climbs memorable? In addition to celebrating his many climbing achievements, the movie also explores how Freds lifestyle and attitude have become iconic parts of contemporary climbing culture. He had a lot more to do, says Bond. Last night, after arriving at our campsite, Bebie and I decided the original goal was too distant to be practical, and consequently, After more than an hour of heated argument, Bebie and I prevailed. Afterwards, his family signed him up with the Boy Scouts[6] where he learned the basic concepts of climbing. Required fields are marked *. Hed even meet strangers in person at a climbing area, speak with them about climbing, and then just go climbing. They ventured into the Northern Picket range, a small but extremely rugged subrange of the north Cascades full of unclimbed peaks. When we inspire one another to try harder, learn more deeply, listen more honestly and send something gnarlier than we could have alone, those partnerships transcend sports. In 1956, a Trans-Canada Air Lines flight had slammed headlong into the face, imbedding the nose of the plane in the rock and killing all 62 passengers. Fred now drones on about this anomaly with mischievous delight, as if we have pulled a brilliant practical joke on the four million working stiffs who are currently going about their humdrum business in the cities and towns that sprawl two hours down the road from the trailhead parking lot. Thanks to Timothy Egan's book "The Good Rain," the legend hasbecome known of how fifty years ago, Fred Beckey fell in lovewith a young woman with a Greek sounding name. Hailed as one of the most prolific and influential climbers of all time, fred beckey has become a cult hero in the outdoor world. Pedro had recently suggested that I check out Liberty Caps route Mahtah, and there I sat: a pitch below the summit, having flashbacks to a grinning Fred and our initial chance meeting at a roadside slab in Leavenworth. As a full-time nomadic climber for roughly eight decades, Fred Beckey, who died in late 2017, almost certainly roped up with more individual climbing partners than any other human being. Beckey began exploring the North Cascades next, making first ascents up Mount Despair in 1939 and Forbidden Peak in 1940rugged mountains deemed unclimbable by the local mountaineering club. He was eager to explore, and vibrated with restless energy and a brilliant mind. Thats not the Beckey we saw in our home, said Washington Climbers Coalition co-founder Matt Perkins, who described a well-mannered, well-groomed figure who handled flatware with lan. Here are the details: We are asking for your written contributions for a "Tribute Book" : a collaborative gift from anyone who has known Fred, climbed with Fred, or experienced mountain-life or trail life with Fred . It had the audience rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. We both took a great interest in other cultures; there was so much to learn. What isn't known is how his monomaniacal drive to climb and document sometime got Fred into hairy situations. And if you have, there is undoubtedly some story or tidbit you have to share for Megan and Alex's effort. We became inseparable and laughed and wisecracked constantly. Megan is working on a biography of Fred, to be published by Mountaineers Books. On the long drive back to Seattle, where they all lived, Beckey asked Bjornstad if he felt like doing another climb. Thanks to Beckeys unrelenting agenda, lining up partners and divining the weather in distant ranges requiredand still requireshim to spend an inordinate amount of time in phone booths, often hours at a pop. Others insist it was 1954, when he polished off Mount Deborah, Mount Hunter, and the Northwest Buttress of McKinley; or 1961, when Beckey teamed up with Chouinard to climb the West Face of South Howser Tower in the Canadian Bugaboos, a flying buttress of flawless white granite that is now widely regarded as the most beautiful alpine rock climb in North America; or 1963, when Beckey did 48 major routes, 26 of them first ascents. Beckey continued to write throughout his career. We were taking chances on really bad rock, with broken streetcars of ice hanging above us, and the glaciers were heavily crevassed. I dont know, Beckey declares, Ive never heard of anyone climbing Sahale in winter. Check out our international portal in order to check out with up to date currency and inventory, Find Your Country No thanks, Stay on this page. Something worth climbing, Jesus Christ, I dont know. Back in the 1930s, he stripped his life of everything that might impede his campaign on the heights, and five decades later the mountains are still all that matters. It was late afternoon and he was coming out of a Jasper bakery. A writing career helped with this. Fred,my dad, and some mutual friends went climbing in China together when my mom was pregnant with me. Beckey began exploring the North Cascades next, making first ascents up Mount Despair in 1939 and Forbidden Peak in 1940rugged mountains deemed unclimbable by the local mountaineering club. On the blank friction slab, I couldnt tell what was nighttime condensation, and what was crystalline mineral. Fittingly, he is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Leavenworth, Seattle. Why did he embrace such a life. As a full-time nomadic climber for roughly eight decades, Fred Beckey, who died in late 2017, almost certainly roped up with more individual climbing partners than any other human being. Fred was coming to terms with the aging process, but still adamantly wanted to keep conquering peaks, says Jason. But I insisted that there was no apology necessary. Legendary alpinist Jim Donini puts it like this: In a climbing sense, he was definitely the American original. Freds entanglement with climbing goes something like this: in 1936, the Beckey family was on a car camping vacation in the Cascade Mountains when Fred wandered off. Just a mossy 5.8 slab to go. Beckey began exploring the North Cascades next, making first ascents up Mount Despair in 1939 and Forbidden Peak in 1940rugged mountains deemed unclimbable by the local mountaineering club. Fred also opened and climbed new routes during this period, including the first ascent of Northwest Buttress on McKinley Mountain with Henry Meybohm in 1954. I hung in the darkness realizing that I was only up there, clipped to a manzanita 1500 off the deck, because of my connection with Fred Beckey. Beckey descended in the blizzard to get help, but was later blamed by his teammates for abandoning his partner, who was rescued by others. I first ran into Fred Beckey at the Banff Book and Film Festival in 1994, where he tried stealing my girlfriend (something he was known for). WebFred Beckey was born on January 14, 1923 in Dsseldorf, Germany as Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey. We had wriggled under giant, fallen trees that were too high to climb over and too horizontal to go around, pushing and pulling each other and our backpacks underneath toppled timbers to the other side of the blockade. Fred Beckey is a bridge to the roots of the American climbing scene. Beckey was a contemporary of Hugh Hefners, and he took the Playboy Philosophy as the gospel. He flaunted his independence by dating a multitude of women, committing himself to none. WebBeckey, like so many people of great accomplishment, is a controversial figure, having alienated fellow climbers by stealing their routes (and even their girlfriends). Freds brother Helmy (Helmut) would be born a year later in 1926. You can tell what really bothers Fred because thats the stuff he never mentions, says Sybil Goman, who has gotten as close to Beckey as perhaps a person can. Fred Beckey at Shiprock in 2016. I tiptoed and balanced my way along faint quartz seams and grainy overlaps, stepping with heightened nerves, caution, almost certainly terrible technique. [2], In 1955 Beckey joined the International Himalayan Expedition to climb the worlds fourth-highest peak, Lhotse. But our dreams had been delusions and would not live beyond the fall. Mount Waddington is a thirteen-thousand-foot peak in British Columbia known for its fierce and unpredictable weather. You got any aspirin on you? Freds legacy as an American mountaineer is further cemented by his written work. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Fred Beckey died on October 30th, 2017, in Seattle. I kept in touch with Pedro even while Freds health declined and he never made it out climbing with me again. Bjornstad concurs, adding that Fred never mentioned his feelings about being excluded from the Everest trip, simply wouldnt talk about it, but it was obvious that it bothered him deeply. Megan Bond March 23, 2021 2 Comments While traveling solo to remote and wild places, I had been in some dicey situations. In 1962, when invitations were going out for the Everest team and it became clear Fred wasnt going to be included, he became very agitated and depressed. He was an expert on both rock and ice, had alpine experience, and had been to the Himalayas. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Our heads were conjoined, and our brains synced. FAs with Eric Bjornstad [23] 1970 South Face of Charlotte Dome, III 5.7, FA with Galen Rowell, Chris Jones [3] 1972 Moses, Canyonlands with Eric Bjornstad [24] [18] 1989 South Buttress, Caliban Peak, Arrigetch Peaks, Alaska [18] As somebody probably once said: If you cant do stuff - write about it. What isn't known is how his monomaniacal drive to climb and document sometime got Fred into hairy situations. For Beckey, climbing is no mere pose. Nevertheless, by October 22nd, two sherpas, Beckey, and a Swiss climber named Bruno Spirig were hunkered down in tents at 25,200 feet, poised to take a shot at the 27,890-foot summit. Fred quickly jumped on board, sharing his maps, giving advice and jokingly offered to carry my bags as he highjacked my trip. Jagged granite ridges and avalanche-swept ice fields, some of the wildest country in the conterminous United States, extend into the distance in all directions, a concentration of mountains, in the words of the late WilliamO. Douglas, too numerous to count.. While the film delves into those peccadilloes, it is ultimately an affectionate portrait of a remarkable man in the sunset of his career. Last October, I was tethered to a tree just one pitch below the summit of Liberty Cap, in Yosemite National Park, when I learned that Fred Beckey had died. Fred has many aspects in his character. I loved exploring the high, natural world too, but my needs were simpler and not so bold. They went away empty-handed. The closest thing he has to a home is a secondhand Volkswagen with 400,000 miles on it. Beckey has left his mark in many, many ranges, but nowhere more emphatically than here in the North Cascades. Beckey was compiling and writing guidebooks from as early as the late 1940s. Fred Beckey was a legendary Northwest climber, environmentalist, historian, and Mountaineers Books author. The pair traveled to Zion national park, where they attempted to climb Touchstone Wall and Prodigal Son. I learned it from my wife, back home in Washington State, when Id called asking her to google the words how to descend Liberty Cap. I had no idea how to get down from the dark summit, which loomed a pitch above, but I thought we had our route in the bag. And while a surfing accident three years ago has left him temporarily out of action, there is no subject hed rather write about than the great outdoors. Another partner of Beckeys fell to his death in 1952 while they were attempting the North Face of Mount Baring in the North Cascades. What makes me, in a recent particular case, want to blindly pad up runout mossy slabs in the dark, with more and more damp, grainy granite between me and the safety of that last bolt? He looked road-weary from outrunning time; it seemed he needed a jump-start and a push, and this I could provide. Regardless, he insisted we were heading to the Garhwal in the Northern India State of Uttarakhand, and the Bhyundar Valley, known as the Valley of Flowers. Id done very little pitch-black climbing with just a headlamp. I know a lot of you have! Fred Beckey passed away in October 2017, but the crew hopes that his legacy will live on with Dirtbag. Freds partnerships were made by actually speaking with other human beings, either face to face or on the telephone. There are also unsubstantiated rumors that he found a crashed airplane full of cash and gold bullion on one of his early expeditions! People whispered behind his back that he was dangerous to climb with, that he was ruthless to the point of recklessness in pursuit of summits. Although Beckeys skills as a mountaineer were unassailable, his cocky, impatient, notoriously unaccommodating personality had won him plenty of detractors. Tax ID: 27-3009280. Those partners include essentially every prominent alpine and rock climber in the USA and Canada from the 1930s to the 1990s. His father was a surgeon, and his mother worked as an opera singer. On his second journey to Alaska, Fred climbed Devils Thumb and Kates Needle both first ascents. Fred had struggled with this hearing loss for twenty years, which by then had become rather acute, but for some reason he could hear my voice, or at least intuit with ease what I communicated. Celebs Wiki Fred Beckey fans also viewed: Jonathan B. Lewis Vladimr Kokolia Mike Hawks Frantisek Daniel Michelle Shelton Huff Cohl Kenneth Love Cody Rowlett Alvin Ailey Ruth St. Denis Michael Weiss Jonathan B. Lewis Vladimr Kokolia Mike Hawks The pair traveled to Zion national park, where they attempted to climb Touchstone Wall and Prodigal Son. No wonder I miss him so much. For a time, he worked as a delivery truck driver, which left him time for climbing. While the film delves into those peccadilloes, it is ultimately an affectionate portrait of a remarkable man in the sunset of his career. Almost six feet tall, with hair that typically looked like a yellow hayfield post-windstorm, no - I would never blend in with the people of the Himalaya, which might have allowed me safer passage. Thanks to Timothy Egan's book "The Good Rain," the legend hasbecome known of how fifty years ago, Fred Beckey fell in lovewith a young woman with a Greek sounding name. That Time Fred Beckey Shocked Even The Lumberjacks - Climbing People That Time Fred Beckey Shocked Even The Lumberjacks He was known for this first ascents, which remain unequalled for volume and quality, and for detailed guidebooks. 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